Many watercraft hulls are made of composites. The most common composite used is glass fibers mixed with unsaturated polyester. These hulls are typically made using an open mold process. In this process, the mold is first coated with a gel coat, then a mixture of glass fibers and resin is laid inside the mold, and the mixture is then rolled manually to expel the air and ensure that it conforms to the mold. In order to increase the rigidity of the hull, foam pieces are disposed in certain areas of the hull and are then coated (often manually) with the mixture of glass fibers and resin, which needs to be manually rolled. The glass fiber coated mold is then cured and the finished hull subsequently removed from the mold.
Alternatively, the glass fiber coated mold is cured prior to placing the foam pieces. The foam pieces are separately coated with the mixture of cut glass fibers and resin and, once cured, are glued inside the hull.
Both of these methods result in a hull having a double-wall construction in some areas. Although this provides a hull with the necessary rigidity for most applications, it may be desirable to provide a hull with more rigidity for some more demanding applications. Also, the foam pieces used in the above hulls take up a substantial amount of space within the hull, and the resulting hull is also relatively heavy. The manufacturing process is also substantially labor intensive which increases the cost of the hull.
Therefore, there is a need for a watercraft hull which ameliorates at least some of the inconveniences mentioned above.